1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-function concurrent processing device capable of concurrently processing a plurality of control programs using time sharing methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, many electronic devices, such as information processing devices, include an internal computer of some sort. In order to more rapidly process a plurality of functions, such as a computation process function or a process function for inputting and outputting information, one such electronic device uses a type of multi-function concurrent processing called multi-processing to concurrently process the plurality of functions. The electronic device includes a plurality of central processing units connected in series. In order to perform the plurality of functions, an operation system with a concurrent process management system uses the CPUs to separately execute a plurality of control programs that correspond to the plurality of functions.
It should be noted that other electronic devices use time sharing methods to more rapidly process a plurality of functions. During time sharing processes, a single processing unit executes a plurality of control programs one after the other in a predetermined order each time a short predetermined processing time elapses.
Electronic devices using multi-processing methods and time sharing methods described above are provided with a keyboard having a stop key for stopping processes presently being executed. However, when a plurality of functions are executed simultaneously, the user must input a predetermined job number or a unit name so that the control unit of the electronic device can distinguish which function is to be stopped. After the user inputs the job number or the unit name, he or she operates the stop key and the control unit stops execution of the control program corresponding to that function.
However, in electronic devices that use multi-processing or time sharing methods to simultaneously and concurrently execute a plurality of functions, when a user wishes to stop one of the plurality of functions being executed simultaneously, he or she must enter the job number or the unit name corresponding to each function he or she wishes to stop. Therefore, stopping a desired function presently being executed is a troublesome process.